2019 Beauty Resolutions

When you are setting goals and making resolutions for the new year, do you add beauty to the equation? As a beauty blogger, I tend to reflect on my beauty habits often to determine what works for me from one season to the next. Sometimes I realize I need to put more effort into routine hair care. Other times I've challenged myself to wear lipstick more often during the week for a quick confidence boost.

Setting these beauty goals are small, yet fun ways I remind myself to maintain optimal personal care. And we all know that taking better personal care of ourselves can make us feel a lot better about our well-being. When I've taken the time to keep my nails trimmed (or painted), hair done (or at least clean and combed), and my skin on point (especially during that hormonal time of the month), it does wonders for my confidence. And who doesn’t deserve to feel good about themselves?

Last year, I made small yet attainable beauty resolutions you can read all about here. And since I did a great job being consistent with those, I decided to adapt and create similar goals for 2019. I've seen improvement in my personal care since late 2017, and I truly believe keeping myself accountable with beauty resolutions helped.

Without further adieu, here are my beauty resolutions for 2019:

1. Have fun styling this newly natural 'do of mine. When reading over a bucket list I made several months back, one item in particular gave me pause. It said, simply, "Cut my hair, dye it red, and don't care what others think of it." I had been wanting to do the big chop for the longest, but I didn't know what was holding me back. Was I worried about cutting my hair off? I've done that before. Was I worried about what people would think of my TWA? Maybe in some small way I was. The fact that I had written it down showed as much. So one day in late November, I just did it (with my mom's help). And I've never felt more liberated. I still haven't decided whether I want to dye my hair red, but I will have fun taking care of it and trying different styles.

2. Wearing whatever beauty products I want, whenever I want! I will admit I often get caught up with only wearing certain colors during certain seasons and times of day. But I'm not so pressed on that, anymore. If I want to wear black nail polish any day in spring, I will. If I want to wear lilac lip gloss in the winter, I will. In the past, I've put too many limits on myself in the most trivial ways. I won't keep doing it with my personal aesthetic.

3. Purchase only what I need. Since having my beauty stash downsized quite a bit, I have seen the light, y'all. I am making the commitment to purchasing only what I need and actually using up products before stashing away so many more. And if I happen to have extra, I'll be sure to share with friends.

4. Perfect my five-minute beauty routine. Lately my "five-minute routine" has been taking much longer than usual. I want to keep my favorite products on the ready and be able to get my every day look together quickly with less product.

5.Set aside more time for beauty routines or "getting ready" in general. I know I said I want my every day face pulled together in minimal time with minimal product, but I also want to give myself time to take the best care of myself, when time permits. Sometimes as adults, we are always in such a rush do to EVERYTHING, we forget to take time to properly care for ourselves. I don't want to keep multi-tasking my deep conditioning with other things if I don't want to. I want to be able to relax and take my time when doing things for myself without feeling guilty.

6.Paint my nails each week. There's something cathartic about doing my nails. I don't know if it's the drying process that gives me reason to sit still for a few minutes, or the instant joy I feel when staring down at a vibrant hue of polish on my nails and toes. It takes little to no effort (if I'm not obsessing over cuticles and whatnot) and is an instant mood booster for me, so why not do it more often? Besides, there's something about shocking pink nail polishes that make for great conversation when I'm out and about, believe it or not. So keep them pretty and painted with a glitter accent all the time, I shall.

7. Keep my brushes and products sanitized. This one is self-explanatory. I have a bad habit of trying new looks in the middle of the night and leaving the remnants in brushes for far too long than I care to admit. Yes, cleaning brushes are a pain. But my stash is smaller now, so I should have no problem keeping my brushes clean and in better shape. This reminds me, I also need to clean that smashed-up highlighter residue from the bottom of my makeup bag, soon. Don't roll your eyes at me yet, guys. I'm a work in progress.

8.Try something fresh and new. Queue up Young, Fresh and New by Kelis while I do my two-step. While I don't want to feel like I must learn and master every beauty trend as it comes, I do want to learn a new technique or two every now and again. I'll make a habit of wearing a different shade of lipstick or nail polish. And I want to get into wearing lashes more often, too. I am looking to move a bit more out of my comfort zone this year, and this will be a great start.

9. Let my skin breathe as much as possible. This one is self-explanatory. I am making a habit of not wearing foundation every single day to help my skin breathe. This, like any resolution worth having, will be work. But I know I can do it.

10. Start wearing all that "special occasion" stuff now. In the past, I've had a habit of saving certain fragrances and lipsticks to wear for special occasions. If a product I really love was being discontinued, I would grab up so many of them so I wouldn't run out. But if I wasn't using it, what good was it doing sitting in cabinet shelves collecting dust? Now I'm pushing myself to wear that perfume every day if I want to, even if I'm only going to Walmart. I'll rock Ruby Woo to pick up pizza for the kids if I feel like it. Waiting for a "special occasion" is no reason to make idols of products that could be put to good use now. If I need a reminder, I will refer back to #3.

What are your beauty resolutions? Are you looking to add more face masks and treatments to your skincare routine? Perhaps you haven’t created a skincare regimen yet and you're searching for products to fit your individual needs. Maybe you want to start wearing daring shades of lipstick more often. Or you’ve started a new hair journey and want to take the best care of your hair at home. Or maybe you've resolved to toss the outdated products you don’t use or have vowed to downsize your stash. Whatever your beauty resolutions may be, I would love to hear about them in the comments. Let’s talk!

Hello loves, I'm Dre! I am a hoarder of books and lipsticks, cupcakes make me happy, music gets me lifted, and the 90's was the best decade ever. I thank you kindly for stopping by my space on the web. Come on in and make yourself comfortable.